And now, for a change of pace. You’ve seen the perils of living in the wilds, now for a few of the benefits of living in the wilds of Big Sur.
Category: Living in the Wilderness
Citizen Fire Watch, Continues
So, on the way back up the hill on a Saturday night, I found more campers. This is what I saw:
Wait a minute, that’s firewood?
Yep, that’s what it is. There is no one in the camp, so I drive on down the road, and come across an older guy, and a younger gal. The guy is nice – to begin with, but the girl? She has a serious attitude problem. I speak with them, but she’s got a real problem, so I follow them back to their camp.
She doesn’t like to be photographed.
And she ca me toward me in my Jeep with her camera.
Oh, yeah, serious ATTITUDE. Trust me, I am doing nothing, saying nothing, other than photographing her. She does NOT like that! She keeps coming …
I have stayed in my Jeep, and yet she still keeps coming …
That’s some serious ATTITUDE, lady. Then she grabs my camera, and shoves it back in my face. Damn, that’s a battery. Now, remember, I haven’t gotten out of my Jeep, and I have said nothing to her, I’ve only photographed her.
Cute gal, with a serious problem! Then her “dad” had to step into the action, again at my driver’s window.
Man, these two REALLY did not want their photos taken! But “dad” when he stepped up to my window, looked in the back of my Jeep, and said, “This is your car?” Duh, I thought, and then he said, “You live up there?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Everyone knows me.”
Then “dad” said, “We will come find you.”
Oh, really, I thought. Okay, I’ve got two normal looking crazies coming up to find me. R-i-i-i-ght. Past a locked gate, 4 guard dogs, and to back it all up, a .357 S&W? I don’t think so.
Just a normal Saturday night in wild fire land. I just normally avoid these situations.
A challenge
Do you remember this photograph I posted of the yellow hills of Big Sur?
Well, I ran into Joe Burnett, biologist for the VWS’s Condor reintroduction program, last night and he suggested a challenge. If Jeff Norman were still around (we miss you Jeff!) this challenge would not be necessary.
This is the challenge – hike into Mt. Manual, and take close-up photographs of the various yellow flowers contributing to this unusual phenomena, and send them to me at kwnovoa@mac.com I will post them on my blog. If you know what they are, include that information. But even if you do NOT know what they are, send them in, and hopefully, someone can help us identify them. We will also see how much of what we are seeing is native or introduced.
Here is a close-up of one flower that is making the hills yellow, at least close to the highway. Is it also on Mt. Manual? I originally thought it was a tansy, but I believe that may be incorrect, and would love for someone to identify it for me. It is all over right now, in more abundance than I have ever seen – both in areas touched by the Basin Fire, and those untouched.
Do you know what this is? Barbara Woyt does. It is Eriophyllum staechadifolium or lizard tail, also known as Seaside Woolly Sunflower. Is it part of the display on Mt. Manuel? Get out there soon, as this display won’t last long in this hot weather! And send those photos in! Let’s all find out what is causing this unusual display! Thanks, Joe, for the challenge. Now let’s see if my readers are up for it!
(Note, this photo was not taken for the challenge, or it would be a closer shot. Here, I wanted the hills and ocean in the background, but a good photo for this challenge would clearly show the flowers AND the leaves for identification purposes as close-up as your camera would allow.)
Summer Fog
There is something refreshing and alluring about the summer fog on the coast. Living up here above it, I get scorching temperatures, and look down on the fog below. Sometimes envious, but mostly grateful I don’t live in it.
I had to pass into it several times this week, and was surprised about how thick it was. For me, the fog presents another photo opportunity. I love what the fog does to the forest.
Mountain Adventure #736
And my day was interesting, to say the least. Mountain Adventure #736:
Okay, I made that number up. I don’t know what number this one is. I’ve lost track, I’ve had so many.
With all the adventures I’ve had, one thing that has never happened is my 1998 Jeep has never broken down on the dirt road….or my 1988 Range Rover before that. It is almost as if they know that is verboten. Well, today, that luck changed.
I was going through Turkey Flats, you know, Turkey Flats … I’ve taken lots of photos there.
anyway, all of a sudden, there was no response from the gas pedal. None. Okay, I said to myself, Ms. Cool Big Sur Mountain Mama. It is all down hill, so I’ll get to the bottom, and get my friend Lynne to call Triple A for me. (I forgot my cell phone, for the first time in ages – not that there is any signal there) Except that it is not all flat.
I am going through the Buttle property, making good progress, coasting, and I get to the itty bitty creek that still has water in it, and there is THE hill. I forgot about THE hill. It is one that is so minor in the scheme of things, that it is easy to forget. BUT, the Jeep would not make it up.
It’s just a little hill! This shows it coming back, going down it.
I tried coasting back down and up the back hill as far as I could, hoping for a sling shot or pendulum effect. I didn’t have to go too far, just get the momentum going. Three times, I tried. No dice.
So, I coasted back down to this itty bitty creek, figuring, if I am stuck here for a couple days, at least the dogs and I will have water.
What? You can’t see the “creek” in there? Okay, maybe not a creek, but a drizzle. Still, enough to keep the dogs and I alive for a few days or weeks, or until someone stumbled upon us.
I turned off the engine, sat there for a minute, then scrambled down to the creek bed in my town clothes and town shoes, and got water for the doggies.
Then, as calm as can be, I opened the hood. That’s what guys do, right? Well, it is still as foreign to me as the day I bought it. Makes no sense. Besides, it was the gas pedal inside that quit, not the engine.
I get down under the dash, check out the gas pedal, and see that it is to the floor and unresponsive. Hmmm. Throttle cable? Maybe? There must be something like that. I find that there is this elbow shaped thingy that is behind the gas pedal. Huh? That must go to something, I thought. Wow, if I pushed on that, then it did something – what I wasn’t sure, but I was sure this elbow shaped thingy was the key. THEN, I found this cable type thingy that came through the back top above the gas pedal from the engine compartment. It had a knob on it.
Now, the elbow shaped thingy, I found by feeling about, had a round hole with a slit in it. If I put the cable thingy through the slot to the hole, it held, and the elbow shaped thingy was now connected to the cable and connected to the gas pedal. And voila! The gas pedal and the throttle cable were again connected and speaking to each other, and I put my foot on the gas, and get a response. Hooray! I conquered the unconquerable!
This, from a woman with not a single mechanical bone in her body. I was, and am, absolutely surprised at myself.
Watch out Indy mechanics, here I come! Am I too old for another career?
Memorial Day Weekend
Today it begins. Memorial Day weekend is typically the start of the summer tourist season here in Big Sur. The day is sunny and beautiful and the gorgeous weather is predicted to continue all weekend.
Just a reminder (to myself, as much as to others), be patient, be kind, and pay attention on the road. One of my friends used to say that some tourists took their common sense, put it in the dresser drawer, and locked it up for safe-keeping until they got home.
I’ll be out and about to see what is happening on our fair coast today, pretending to be a tourist. 😉 Enjoy this wonderful long weekend, where ever you are!
Missing Condor – good news
Because it might be missed in the comment section of my blog on the History Spotlight on the Condors, and because it is such a happy occurrence, I decided to reproduce Joe’s comment in its entirety here. Good job, Joe!
Thanks for posting the news about our missing condor, #204. I have good news to report on his status…he was finally captured down in southern California at Hopper Mountain Wildlife Refuge (near Fillmore, CA)in mid April.
He disappeared from Big Sur in early April shortly after we noticed a major decline in his health. I immediatley alerted Big Sur residents that live in the vicinity of his nesting territory to keep on the lookout for a sick condor. We attempted to capture him near one of his night-time roost spots, but he was still strong enough to elude us and then he went completely off the radar. A volunteer took me up in his airplane to track 204’s radio signal, but nothing…we flew all the way down to SLO and back up the coast.
A few days later we recieived a call from our partners in So Cal (US Fish and Wildlife Service, who I had alerted as well) that 204 had arrived at their condor release site. The last time 204 flew to that site was 4 years ago, which caught me by surprise, but I always knew it was a possibility. He was so lethargic in Big Sur I didn’t think he had the strength to make the 250 mile flight, but he did it…really amazing. He was captured the following day and is now recovering at Los Angeles Zoo.
It appears he sustained two injuries to his wings, which he may have been inflicted during an attack by a Golden Eagle. One of his injuries was a puncture wound that went completely through his wing, most likely from the talon of an eagle. The injuries made him more vulnerable to the flock and likely caused him to be singled out. If your a dominant male that is injured, you become a target for lower ranking males. I witnessed this firsthand and believe this directly led to his poor health and emaciation…the less dominant birds wouldn’t let him feed. He continues to do well at the Zoo and we plan to re-release him later this month.
A big Thanks to the community for keeping an eye out for Big Sur’s wildlife, they really need us to be their protectors. Great spotlight story on the condor…check out our monthly field notes for updates on the Big Sur condor flock. fieldnotes
Cheers, Joe Burnett- Ventana Wildlife Society
So, how was your day?
Well, I could tell you about my day … but it would depress you. Oh, too happy? Okay, then here goes.
I was working yesterday, and using my last tank of gas in the generator, as I was going to town today, so no biggie.
Worked past the generator, so worked on laptop battery and 12 v. lights in trailer. Hum… lights went out, so got flashlight. laptop gave out about 1 am, so to bed with Hawaii by flashlight for a while. Finally gave up the ghost about 1:30 am.
Woke at 5:30. Peed, couldn’t get back to sleep, so continued to read Hawaii by flashlight. Then, finally, got up at 6:30 am. Hmmm. water pump on same circuit as lights, so not working. No biggie. I have water in jugs for such an emergency. Made coffee, read Hawaii.
Finally, get up, figure I’ll recharge the laptop on the inverter in the Jeep. Oh? Really? Well, can’t do that, the Jeep battery is dead. Okay, house battery dead, lap top dead, Jeep dead. Thank god the cell phone battery is … CHARGED!! I call the X. “Help!!” His phone is off. We are supposed to meet for lunch in Cambria. So, I leave a msg on his cell, and at the restaurant where we agree to meet. Finally, several hours later, he calls back. “I’m on my way.” He was down by Hearst Castle, so another couple hours. Back to Hawaii.
He shows up with gas for the gennie, so we hook up the battery charger to the gennie and then to the Jeep. 1/2 hour later – nada. So, I said, “I don’t suppose one of my deep cycles will fit in the Jeep, right?” (He brought his MBZ, and one cannot jump start from that!). He says, “No, but we can jump start from it.” And so we did.
3:30 pm, He can’t go to lunch as he has to go back and pick up his mom from his aunt’s, where he had deposited her for the day so we could have lunch. I make it into town, get gas for the gennie, recharging the laptop AND the Jeep along the way. Get home after dark. Not my favorite thing to do, carrying groceries in the dark, especially as every thing is excavated for my next project.
Now, I have more power than I need, but last night and this morning? I was back in the homestead days. I don’t mind washing clothes by hand in a 5 gallon bucket. I don’t mind being without power, but I really hate it when all power is out.
And so, how was your day?
Delicate Balance
There is a delicate balance between Mother Nature and Mankind. In our urban areas, this balance has been destroyed. Here in the wilderness, it teeters. During the winter, man and womankind leave Mother Nature pretty much alone – her power is awesome during that time of the year; but when the weather warms, and the rains are in abeyance, people start populating the wilderness again. And their presence is felt every where.
I found this screwed into a tree today. I took it down. If you try to count the shots, there are probably over 100, as the big hole was blown away.
This is the back side, and one can see the kind of damage that these bullets do.
These are some of the casings I found, 45 autos.
Both the State Parks and the USFS are seriously understaffed, and unable to monitor our wilderness areas. Can we work on solutions to these problems? I see the wilderness being mistreated all the time, but there is little I can do about it, other than try to get people to “wake up!”
Heart worm in Big Sur – post tomorrow.
Plaskett Ridge Rd.
Plaskett Ridge Rd. is now virtually impassable, and should be closed to the public, until we get a week of sunshine. Rock Knocker (with 30 years experience on Cal-Trans mudslides, and slippery roads) got stuck yesterday. On the way up this afternoon, the slippery clay caused me to slide into a ditch the depth of about 1/2 the circumference of my tire today, and the ONLY reason I got out is my 5.2 liter Jeep, 4×4, good tires, and 15 years experience on this road, and even so, it was quite “iffy.” I was shaking so badly by the time I got out of the trees to the top, I had to stop.
This is the price I pay for living “On Top o’ the World.”